Kamiak’s shooting woes sank any chance of knocking off the defending league champions.

The Knights fell behind 21-9 in the first eight minutes of play and ended up making 28 percent of their attempts in a 72-35 loss to Glacier Peak in a Wesco 4A boys basketball game Friday, Jan. 5, at Glacier Peak High School.

The Grizzlies, atop the league standings with a 5-0 mark (9-1 overall) connected on 52 percent of their shots.

“They just outplayed us,” Kamiak coach Cory West said. “They played very well. They moved the ball well. All kudos to them. It was not so much us as them.”

Senior Carson Tuttle finished with 13 points and Danny Sharpe had 9 points for the Knights (3-2, 5-6). Kamiak made only 3 of 21 of its 3-point attempts, a disappointing 14 percent. Ideally, West said he’d like the Knights to connect on 40 percent of their 3-pointers and he’s even be content somewhere in the 30s.

The struggles from the field were a combination of the Grizzlies’ defense and an off-night for the Knights.

“They played really hard. They have guys who have high motors,” West said. “Our shots weren’t falling. Guys weren’t adjusting in game. Hats off to them. They’re a tough team to beat.”

Kamiak’s defense also wasn’t able to shut down Martin or Lawrence.

“They had a lot of buckets on transition, which was part of the scouting,” West said. “We didn’t do a good job of getting back in transition.”

Kamiak was coming off a much better performance against Monroe. Tuttle scored 25 points to lead the Knights to a 58-35 victory over the Bearcats on Tuesday, Jan. 2. Jordan Meyer had 12 points. Kamiak went 2-2 at a tournament in California over the holiday break.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” West said. “The team bonding was big there (California). We played pretty good defense against Monroe.”

In some ways West hopes the loss to Glacier Peak was an eye-opening experience for the Knights, especially regarding their defensive performance. He noted that every team is going to have nights when the shots don’t fall.

“It’s unacceptable to allow 72 points when you’re only scoring 35,” West said.